Flu cases double as experts worry about flu shot’s effectiveness

Flu cases which year have doubled those by last year, validating experts’ fears which which season could be particularly bad.

Between Oct. 1 in addition to Nov. 25, 5,070 clinical lab tests were positive for the flu, up by 2,510 from the same period last year, according to data by the Centers for Disease Control in addition to Prevention. The number of Americans who have contracted the illness will be likely even greater, an agency spokeswoman cautioned, since most people don’t go to the doctor in addition to get tested.

which year’s flu vaccine may not be as helpful as in years past. The one used in Australia was only 10 percent effective, according to research published in October from the journal Eurosurveillance.

Researchers warned the implications for the Northern Hemisphere may not be the same, although the vaccine Australia used has the same composition as the one the U.S. will be using. As of Nov. 24, about 148.2 million doses of the vaccine have already been administered from the U.S., according to the CDC.

A spokeswoman for Sanofi Pasteur, a division of Sanofi which produces about 40 percent of the influenza vaccines distributed worldwide, cautioned the research only analyzed Australia. These findings may not reflect what will happen from the U.S., she said, because there will be no guarantee the same strains which predominated in Australia will be the same which predominate here.

The effectiveness of flu shots can vary each year. The average number between 2006 in addition to 2017 was 46 percent, according to data by the CDC. As for the outliers, 19 percent (in 2014-15) in addition to 60 percent (in 2010-11) were the lowest in addition to highest rates, respectively, of the bunch.